We’re more than halfway there. Two more weeks in Florida, two final exhibition games in Arizona, and the season will be underway. We’re even about to see actual Red Sox starting pitchers get into games! It’s crazy. Here are a few observations from the fourth week of spring training:

· When camp opened, I really believed the Red Sox would inevitably open the season with Dustin Pedroia on the disabled list, if only because that would be the easiest way to carry an extra pitcher for those first 11 games without a day off. (Having so many guys without options makes that sort of flexibility difficult.) But now that Pedroia has gotten into games, having clearly worked hard and followed protocol with the intention of playing on Opening Day, it seems difficult to ask him to sit for another week and a half if he’s truly ready to play. With Brian Johnson, Heath Hembree, Tyler Thornburg and Brandon Workman out of options, it’s also not easy to shuttle guys back and forth to...